| Traditionally, technology and information have been the sources of competitive advantage. Business success in the changing market conditions is now being realized through human resources. More businesses are now initiating human resource development (HRD) policies that are aligned to their business strategy, as primary sources of competitive advantage.; The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant relationships exist between business strategy types (utilized by companies) and the emphasis on each training type in a developing country, namely, Kenya. The study utilized survey research methods. An existing questionnaire was modified to suit this study. Data was collected from 37 successful Kenyan companies that had participated in the "Company of the Year Awards", since its inception in the year 2000. Through self-reported identification, these companies were classified into three business strategy types as in Miles and Snow (1978) business strategy typology; (a) Defenders, (b) Analyzers and, (c) Prospectors. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. Post hoc tests were also carried out.; Results indicated that the three business strategy types, emphasized different training types, had different HR training budgets, and allocated training to different job categories. Interactions between strategy types and training types were significant. Analyzers and Prospectors allocated the highest percentage of their training time to job-specific technical training, while Defenders allocated the highest percentage of training time to management-supervisory training.; A larger proportion of the actual training expenditure was allocated to job-specific training when compared to the other training types. Job-specific technical training had the highest annual percentage of training expenditure while awareness had the lowest percentage.; Interactions were evident between the different strategy types and job categories. Defenders had the highest percentage of training for sales people, Analyzers had the highest percentage of training for professionals, and Prospectors had the highest percentage of training for line workers.; Future research should examine the role of training within the different strategies and explain why job-specific training seems critical in the Kenyan context. This would provide direction for planning and implementation of relevant programs for both educational institutions and employers. |
